On the day of Kobe's 81-point anniversary, Embiid slashed 70 points, Towns scored 62 points, and the two interior players faced each other in the air, the difference was that Embiid led the team to win, Towns was an empty cut, and the Timberwolves were reversed by the Hornets in the last quarter.
On the 4th anniversary of Kobe's death, it was the turn of the two guards to face off against each other. Doncic scored 73 points, surpassing Embiid to become the highest score of the season, and also surpassing Mitchell and Lillard to become the highest score in the game. On the other side, Booker scored 62 points, and like Towns, it was also an empty cut, and the Suns were reversed by the Pacers in the final quarter.
So far, there are 5 active players who have scored 70+ points in a single game, namely Booker who scored 70 points in 2017, Mitchell and Lillard who scored 71 points each last season, and Embiid and Doncic who scored 70 points this season.
Within 4 days, someone scored 70+ points one after another, Doncic's 73 points, and Kobe's 81 points were only 8 points away. According to this trend, Chamberlain's 100 points may not be broken, and Kobe's 81 points may really be broken.
This is indeed an era of offense, and in order to encourage offense, the NBA has developed a lot of rules that are conducive to offense, such as fast-break rules, such as cylinder rules, such as the secondary offense time has been changed to 24 seconds. This allows the team to attack at a faster pace, and the attacking masters have more opportunities to score high scores.
Coupled with more and more three-point shots, the two teams are now scoring more and more points in a single game, and the team's 120 points in a single game are mediocre, and 140 points in a single game are commonplace. Just like today's game, the Mavericks beat the Hawks 148-143, and the Celtics beat the Heat 143-110 the day before.
Since the founding of the NBA, it has gone through different styles and averaged different points per game for teams in different eras, but there is no doubt that the current offensive efficiency is at an all-time high, and it has been broken again and again. For example, in the 60s and 80s, the team averaged about 110 points per game, in the 90s it dropped to about 90 points, in the first decade of the 21st century, it averaged about 95 points per game, in 2010-20, it rose to about 100 points, and in the 2020s, it rose to 110 points, and it is getting higher and higher.
So far this season, there are three teams with an offensive efficiency above 120, and no team has ever reached 120 in history. Last season, the Kings had an all-time high offensive efficiency of 118.6. It is reasonable to assume that the offensive efficiency will improve next season.
The team's offense is fast-paced, with more three-point shots, and the team's core score will get higher and higher, just like the league currently has 47 players averaging 20+ points per game. 20 years ago, in the 03-04 season, there were only 17 players who averaged 20+ per game, and in the 05-06 season, there were about 20 players.
Last season, Lillard and Mitchell had 70+ in a single game, and just over halfway through this season, Embiid and Doncic have 70+ in a single game. In the history of the NBA for nearly 80 years, not counting the Chamberlain period, there has never been such a dense single game scoring 70+.
Pierce sighed: I really miss the NBA defense.
Who of the 5 active 70+ gentlemen is more likely to surpass Kobe's 81 points in a single game?
Bryant scored 81 points in that game, hitting seven three-pointers and 18-of-20 free throws. 7 three-pointers For the current three-point masters, 7 three-pointers in a single game is not much, and 20 free throws in a single game is also not much, just like Embiid's 70 points and 20 of 23 free throws, but only 2 three-point shots.
When Booker scored 70 points, the Suns were still a bad team, Booker was the absolute core, and now Booker has Durant and Beal by his side, although he can also fire infinitely, even if Durant and Beal are willing to complete Booker, the opponent cannot completely not cover the hot Booker, just like in this game, Booker shot 37 times, which is enough.
Lillard, like Booker, is now the second best player on the Bucks and has scored just 45 points so far this season.
Mitchell's advantage is that he has outstanding physical strength, but in terms of scoring explosiveness, he is really not as good as Lillard, and three-point shooting is indeed not what Mitchell is good at, unless he plays a few more overtimes.
Embiid is the absolute core of the 76ers now, and his scoring ability is also the top in the league. However, Embiid's three-point shots are not many, and it is difficult to score 81 points with two points and free throws alone.
Probably the most likely is Doncic, who is the absolute core of the Mavericks, and a big core player with the ball, who shoots a lot of three-point shots, and is good at hitting the opponent's defensive weaknesses through blocking and dismantling. can shoot three points, can also score inside, and is a master of making fouls, if Doncic lets go, plus the three-point hand feels good, it is indeed possible to break Kobe's 81 points.
There are 5 active 70-point gentlemen, who are you more optimistic about than Kobe's 81 points?